A double refund in Shopify occurs when, during processing, both the event action for the return (return with item movement) and the event action for the credit note (refund without item movement) are triggered one after the other for the same transaction.

Cause of the double refund

The event actions for refunds to Shopify differ technically in their functionality:

• Return event procedure (ReturnOrderEventProcedure): This action books the item back in and simultaneously refunds the amount for this specific item to Shopify.

• Refund without item movement (RefundWithoutItemMovementEventProcedure): This action only refunds the amount of the credit note to the customer without triggering any goods movement.

If both event actions are triggered one after the other in your operational workflow (e.g. one action on the return order and another on the credit note order), PlentyONE sends two refund instructions to Shopify. As a result, the amount is paid out twice to the customer via the payment provider (e.g. PayPal).

Step-by-step guide to adjusting the workflow

To avoid double refunds, you need to adjust your event actions so that a refund is only triggered once per case:

Option 1: Trigger refund only on the return or the credit note

1. Navigate in your PlentyONE system to: Setup » Orders » Event Actions.

2. Check the configured event actions for Shopify returns.

3. Make sure that the refund action is triggered only once throughout the entire process (e.g. only on the return or only on the credit note).

Option 2: Use two separate statuses for credit notes

If, in your daily business, you need both refunds with goods return and goodwill credit notes without goods return:

1. Navigate to: Setup » Orders » Statuses.

2. Create two different statuses for credit notes (e.g. one for credit notes with item movement and one for credit notes without item movement).

3. Link the refund without item movement (Shopify App: Send credit note to Shopify) exclusively to the status for pure refunds without goods return in the event actions.